When I Achieved Sainthood, the Immortal Official Actually Called Me to Raise Horses!

Chapter 19: Lifespan Barrier, Breaking Through to the Core Formation Realm

Inside the Eight Views Heavenly Cave, the glowing fruits of the Ancient Vine Tree cast light upon the cave walls, while the reflection of the underground river shimmered on the walls, giving the cave an ethereal and serene beauty.

Standing under the Ancient Vine Tree, Gu An placed his hands on his hips and gazed at the areas he had planted. A satisfied smile appeared on his face.

"You reap what you sow!"

The true romance he pursued was cultivating immortality while farming!

As for all that fighting and scheming, it could all stay far, far away from him!

Feeling content with himself, Gu An’s gaze shifted.

He began thinking about building a pavilion within the Eight Views Heavenly Cave, so he could occasionally retreat here to rest.

Although he was still young, after another fifty or sixty years, he could follow Cheng Xuandan's example—letting his eldest disciple manage everything while he enjoyed life.

However, it was still too early to choose his first disciple. After all, the Medicine Valley was his foundation, and he needed to find the right person. It couldn’t just be whoever became his first disciple; they had to be capable of handling all affairs.

First, he needed to groom a deputy Valley Master!

Xiao Chuan was worth considering. He had poor aptitude but was honest. The only problem was that he was too blunt in his interactions with others.

Lu Jiujia would inevitably leave for the Outer Sect, so he was ruled out.

Ye Lan…

No, she needed to leave early, lest she destroy his path to immortality.

As for Wu Xin… they would have to wait and see!

More disciples were also needed!

While thinking about all of this, Gu An looked up.

He was quite curious about the fruits of the Ancient Vine Tree. Some heavenly treasures bore fruit, and he wondered if plucking the Ancient Vine fruits would boost his lifespan.

No sooner thought than done!

Gu An leaped up, reaching out to grab one of the fruits and pulling it down.

He landed on the grass, carefully examining the fruit in his hand. It was about the size of a pumpkin, and he estimated it weighed about seven or eight pounds.

Gu An took out a piece of protective spirit paper from his storage pouch and wrapped it around the stem to prevent the loss of spiritual energy and nutrients.

After all, this was money!

About ten seconds later, a message flashed before his eyes:

[You have successfully harvested a Ancient Vine Fruit (Sixth Rank), gaining 85 years of lifespan.]

Eighty-five years of lifespan!

Gu An's gaze toward the Ancient Vine Tree changed.

This thing was a money tree!

He couldn’t bear to uproot it. It had to be carefully nurtured and treasured for the rest of its life!

Excited, Gu An placed the Ancient Vine Fruit into his storage pouch. He then counted the fruits on the tree—there were sixteen fruits of similar size, while the smaller ones couldn’t be touched yet.

Immediately, he got to work.

Some of the fruits were quite high up, so he had to climb the tree.

At this moment, he longed for a sword-flying technique.

Although at the Foundation Establishment stage he couldn’t fly freely yet, he didn’t have any other means of flying or levitating either.

After a considerable amount of effort, Gu An finally harvested all sixteen Ancient Vine Fruits, gaining a total of 1,360 years of lifespan.

His total lifespan had now reached 8,400 years!

The 10,000-year milestone was drawing closer and closer!

Forget it!

Might as well push all the way to 10,000 years. Once he hit that milestone, he could use his lifespan to improve his cultivation, then investigate the other seven tunnels and eliminate any potential dangers. Only then could he enjoy true peace.

With his plan set, Gu An began implementing it.

The Eight Views Heavenly Cave was full of spiritual herbs, and he kept an eye on his attribute panel as he harvested, stopping as soon as his lifespan hit 10,000 years.

Half an hour later, a message popped up in front of him:

[Your lifespan has exceeded 10,000 years for the first time. Lifespan Barrier function unlocked.]

[Lifespan Barrier: Consumes lifespan to activate a barrier that blocks all detection, perception, and divination. The amount of lifespan consumed is determined by your cultivation and the amount of spiritual energy required.]

Lifespan Barrier?

At first, Gu An frowned at the words "consumes lifespan"—wasn’t this thing going to cost him dearly?

But after reading the detailed explanation, he was overjoyed.

When he had broken through to the Foundation Establishment Realm, the commotion had been so large. When he reached even higher realms, wouldn't the disturbances be worse?

He had worried about this before, fearing it would eventually alert the entire Tai Xuan Sect.

Now, he didn’t have to worry!

This ability was so sneaky!

And he liked it!

Laughing to himself, Gu An walked toward the cave entrance.

Once he broke through to the Core Formation Realm, he would investigate the other tunnels.

Although there was a formation in the Eight Views Heavenly Cave, there might still be hidden dangers inside. That’s why he decided to break through outside the cave and test out the Lifespan Barrier at the same time.

No matter what might be lurking in the shadows, he wasn’t afraid!

By the time Gu An returned to Medicine Valley, it was already late at night.

He had moved into the pavilion that Cheng Xuandan had lived in, which was filled with numerous manuals, alchemical recipes, and rare books. Gu An intended to read them all eventually.

Entering the house, he walked over to a wooden cabinet made of special materials, designed to preserve the spiritual energy of rare treasures for as long as possible—something Cheng Xuandan had explained to him before. There were several such cabinets.

He carefully placed all the Ancient Vine Fruits inside one of them.

Suddenly, an idea came to him. He took one of the fruits back out and placed it on the table.

Sitting at the table, he pulled out the Secret History of Thousand Autumn Pavilion and quietly began reading.

It wasn’t until the latter half of the night that the White Spirit Mouse finally returned.

It scampered up onto Gu An’s shoulder, its little eyes fixed on the Ancient Vine Fruit sitting on the table.

Gu An gently picked it up and placed it on the table, waiting to see what it would do.

The White Spirit Mouse approached the fruit, sniffing it cautiously before climbing on top and nibbling at it.

Gu An didn’t know what the effects of the Ancient Vine Fruit were. The Hundred Herbs Manual didn’t cover treasures above the fifth rank, so he had no choice but to let the White Spirit Mouse try it out.

After all, the White Spirit Mouse was a spiritual beast. If the fruit was poisonous, it should be able to detect it.

If it couldn’t detect it, Gu An would give it a proper burial.

The Ancient Vine Fruit was ten times larger than the White Spirit Mouse, so it had a tough time chewing through it. Gu An didn’t offer any help.

Feeling bored while waiting, Gu An decided to break through tonight!

He stood up, left the pavilion, and quietly exited Medicine Valley. After traveling west for about twenty miles, crossing mountains and rivers, he finally stopped.

Climbing to the top of a tall tree, he surveyed his surroundings. Once he confirmed that no other cultivators were nearby, he sat down in a mountain meadow to meditate.

It had been a while since he had consumed his lifespan for cultivation, and he was eagerly anticipating it.

With the Lifespan Barrier in place, Gu An could now safely advance his cultivation.

"Let's try investing 1,000 years to test the waters," he thought confidently. Sitting on 10,000 years of lifespan, using up 1,000 years was nothing to him—just a drop in the bucket!

He channeled 1,000 years of lifespan into his cultivation.

[You cultivated for 30 years and reached the eighth layer of Foundation Establishment.]

[You cultivated for 100 years and reached the ninth layer of Foundation Establishment.]

[You cultivated for 150 years. Using the great mastery of the Divine Wood Pure Yang Technique, you attempted to break through to the Core Formation Realm and triggered a minor tribulation. You failed to survive the tribulation.]

[You cultivated for 200 years. Using the great mastery of the Divine Wood Pure Yang Technique, you attempted to break through to the Core Formation Realm and triggered a minor tribulation. You failed to survive the tribulation.]

...

[You cultivated for 450 years. Using the great mastery of the Divine Wood Pure Yang Technique, you successfully survived the minor tribulation and formed your Golden Core, reaching the Core Formation Realm.]

[You cultivated for 500 years and reached the second layer of the Core Formation Realm.]

[You cultivated for 600 years and reached the third layer of the Core Formation Realm.]

[You cultivated for 720 years and reached the fourth layer of the Core Formation Realm.]

[You cultivated for 850 years and reached the fifth layer of the Core Formation Realm.]

[You cultivated for 1,000 years and reached the sixth layer of the Core Formation Realm.]

A series of notifications flashed before Gu An’s eyes.

Seeing that he had failed the tribulation six times in a row, Gu An nearly choked. How was it possible to fail so many times?

Was it really this hard to survive a tribulation?

As the final notification appeared, Gu An’s body began to operate automatically. He immediately sensed the surrounding spiritual energy starting to surge, and he quickly activated the Lifespan Barrier.

[Lifespan Barrier activated. Lifespan consumed: 0 years.]

The notification hung in front of his eyes. As the surrounding spiritual energy poured into his body, the number "0" jumped to "1."

"I hope this doesn't consume too much," Gu An prayed silently.

As the vast amounts of spiritual energy flowed into his body, he felt completely at ease, a sensation of indescribable comfort.

This time, he didn’t need to move during the breakthrough, so he didn’t experience any pain.

Centered around him, waves of energy began to radiate, rushing toward him from all directions and flooding into his body. A faint, nearly invisible barrier with a diameter of nearly five feet appeared around him.

Looking beyond the barrier, Gu An noticed that everything outside was incredibly calm. The flowers, grass, and trees were all undisturbed, as though they hadn’t been affected by his breakthrough at all.

He was curious—why hadn’t there been any disturbance?

It didn’t take long for him to figure it out.

Once the barrier was activated, the spiritual energy he absorbed came from the ground beneath him.

Now he could finally relax completely.

Before long, his cultivation reached the ninth layer of the Foundation Establishment Realm, while the lifespan consumed by the barrier had increased to five years, which pained him a little.

This thing was expensive!

It reminded him of his experiences playing mobile games in his previous life.

In one word: blackhearted!

As Gu An silently complained, he suddenly noticed bright lights flickering in the distant sky above the forest. Squinting, he could vaguely make out two cultivators engaged in combat.

Ten miles away.

High above the forest, Shi Yang swung his sword, sending out waves of sword energy like a violent storm sweeping through the trees, causing the leaves to scatter.

Li Ya, dressed in black, stood atop a tree, raising his sword in front of him. A powerful aura emanated from him, forming a faint golden bell-shaped shield that blocked all of Shi Yang’s sword energy.

Shi Yang's hair was blown wildly by the wind, his face twisted in a cruel grin. He laughed loudly and shouted, "Li Ya, is this all you've got? Do you think you can fight the Fourth Prince with such paltry skill? Can you even survive to enter the Inner Sect?"

Li Ya’s face remained cold and stern as his gaze shifted toward the direction of Medicine Valley.

No!

If this continued, he would alarm the people of Medicine Valley.

Li Ya had no intention of causing trouble for Gu An and the others, so he immediately pushed his sword forward, scattering the sword energy, and flew off in the opposite direction of Medicine Valley. Shi Yang gave chase, and the two of them quickly disappeared into the night sky.

Inside the Lifespan Barrier, Gu An couldn’t make out the distant figures engaged in combat, but fortunately, the lights soon disappeared.

He didn’t let his guard down, though. The Lifespan Barrier might block detection, perception, and divination, but it didn’t mean it rendered him invisible. What if someone accidentally wandered in?

Time passed quickly as Gu An remained on edge.

His core finally began to form within his body!

When the lifespan consumed by the barrier surpassed fifty years, Gu An successfully formed his Golden Core!

Although the Lifespan Barrier had consumed a lot of lifespan, it was still within acceptable limits.

Before he began, he had worried that it might drain him dry.

But now, all those worries vanished.

A new thought popped into his mind.

He had reached the sixth layer of the Core Formation Realm in just 1,000 years—should he continue to push further?